BANGKOK — China's Xi is making the case for free trade as he tours Southeast
Asia this week, presenting China as a source of “stability and certainty.”
He arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital, Tuesday,
for a three-day visit and will end his tour with a stop in Cambodia.
On Monday, he was welcomed to Hanoi with pomp and
ceremony by Vietnam's President Luong Cuong.
In Hanoi, Xi had a meeting with Vietnam's Communist Party
General Secretary To Lam, where he said the two countries “have brought the
world valuable stability and certainty” in a “turbulent world.”
He also paid respects at the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, the
founder of the Vietnamese Communist Party.
“As beneficiaries of economic globalisation, both China
and Vietnam should strengthen strategic resolve, jointly oppose unilateral
bullying acts, uphold the global free trade system, and keep global industrial and
supply chains stable,” he added, according to a statement from China's Ministry
of Foreign Affairs.
China and Vietnam signed a series of memorandums on
cooperation in supply chains and a joint railway project, and Xi also promised
greater access for Vietnamese agricultural exports to China, although few
details were made public about the agreements.
US President Donald Trump complained about the meeting,
which comes days after his tariffs upended global markets and left governments
across the world scrambling.
Reacting to the meeting Monday, Trump said China and
Vietnam were trying “to figure out how do we screw the United States of
America.”
In Malaysia, Xi is expected to discuss a free trade
agreement between China and 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nation
(ASEAN), as Malaysia is chair of the association this year.
Xi will meet with King Sultan Ibrahim on Wednesday
morning and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim later in the day.
ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn told Chinese state
media that the agreement will eliminate many tariffs between China and the
bloc's members. “We will bring more tariffs down to zero in many cases, and
then expand to all the areas,” he said in an interview with CGTN, the state
broadcaster's English channel.
Malaysia is home to several Belt and Road Initiative
projects, including a USD 11.2 billion Chinese railway project. China is also
its largest trading partner and a top source of foreign direct investment.
Xi's tour was likely planned before the tariff announcements
had disrupted the global economy.
“From the Chinese perspective, it's mostly about ensuring
China's influence in the region remains strong and vibrant, with Southeast Asia
being China's major trading partner,” said Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at Singapore's
Institute of International Affairs.
However, the trip's timing and the fact that Vietnam,
Malaysia, and Cambodia, were all countries impacted by Trump's tariffs,
provides Beijing an opportunity to project how it would act as a “responsible”
superpower, one of China's long-time stances.
“China can offer a lot to Vietnam and other ASEAN
countries during this volatile period,” said Nguyen Thanh Trung, a professor of
Vietnamese studies at Fulbright University, Vietnam. “I think China can be a
leader.”
Anwar called China a “true friend” during Chinese Premier
Li Qiang's visit in June and has visited China three times since he took power
in November 2022.
China's claims to the South China Sea are a point of
contention with both Vietnam and Malaysia. Anwar vowed last September that
Malaysia will not bow to demands by China to stop its oil and gas exploration
in an oil-rich maritime area in the South China Sea as the activities are
within the country's waters.
